Wednesday, October 10, 2018

John Swallow, 55, and his fiancée Amanda Bickerstaffe, 48, had forked out almost £2000 to join six friends for a two-week holiday in Goa.
The group were enjoying some celebratory drinks in the VIP lounge at Manchester Airport when they were approached by a TUI representative, who told them they weren't allowed to board.
Amanda was horrified to be told “India wouldn’t let them in” because her passport was five days short of the six months required to travel - despite already being issued an Indian visa.
The couple were then escorted back to the VIP lounge to say goodbye to their friends, who thought it was a prank, before getting their bags which had been taken off the plane. They were then escorted out of the airport.
Bricklayer John, who said they had planned on buying their engagement and wedding rings out there, told The Sun: “We were absolutely devastated. The whole group was in floods of tears.

Despite John’s passport being within what the airline considered the allowed time to travel, he too was told he was not allowed to fly.

As soon as they got home they phoned Hays Travel, the company they had booked through, who confirmed that they wouldn’t have been granted visas if there was anything wrong with their passports.

John said: “They said it is absolutely 180 days from application of visa as the Indian Government documents state.”
09/10/18 Sarah Ridley/The Sun